Data analyst refuses to answer work messages outside of working hours, coworker 7 hours ahead protests when she won't respond to 'urgent' problem at 9 PM: 'On a random Tuesday I counted 47 notifications after 6 PM'

It has long been observed that one of the difficulties of working in the modern corporate world is that if you're not careful, you never truly clock out. The evil trifecta of emails, Teams, and Slack can be used to reach you 24 hours a day if you let them. This is a problem that is only intensified if you work remotely, or even more inconvenient, have coworkers who live in a totally different time zone from you.

While it can be beneficial on a business level to have people who work all over the world, it can be a pain from the perspective of individual employees. It becomes especially important to set hard boundaries about your work hours; otherwise, you can guarantee that somebody who is just starting their workday is going to try to bother you while you are ready to go to bed and prepare for the next hectic 8 hours.

Author image for Ally Perry Ally Perry
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  • a woman wearing a headset closes her eyes and leans back in her desk chair in front of her computer
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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  • In this story, a woman was at her wits' end when a coworker in a time zone seven hours ahead of hers insisted on repeatedly messaging her after she had officially finished work. As a result, she decided to let her team know that she would be completely offline for work issues after 6 PM, and any emergencies could be dealt with over the phone.

    While most who worked with her accepted her boundary, this colleague got upset when he tried to contact her about an issue he was facing and received no response, as it was late evening her time. The incident split the opinion of her coworkers, and she wanted to know if she was in the wrong. 

  • Am I wrong for hard muting my coworker after hours and then missing an "urgent" issue?

    I am 29F, data analyst at a mid sized company with a global team. My contract says core hours are 9 to 5 in my timezone.
    via OrboTek
  • One teammate, 34M, is in a region 7 hours ahead. He loves real time chat and pings me for everything from "can you check this column name" to "what font is our slide deck".
    via OrboTek
  • For months I tried being responsive, but it got silly. On a random Tuesday in Sept I counted 47 notifications from him after 6 pm, 13 of them between 10 and 11 when I was literally brushing my teeth.
    via OrboTek
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  • I asked him twice, nicely, to keep non urgent stuff to my core hours. He said he is most productive at night and "quick questions keep momentum".
    via OrboTek
  • Two weeks ago I finally opened my phone settings and made a new rule. At 6 pm, Slack and email go silent.
    via OrboTek
  • If something is truly urgent, the on call number is in our runbook and it rings my physical phone.
    via OrboTek
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  • I told the team in a short message, no drama, and set a status that says "offline after 6, use on call for incidents".
    via OrboTek
  • My manager said that is fine, we are measured on tickets closed and I hit every SLA.
    via OrboTek
  • a woman pinches the bridge of her nose while sitting in front of of two white, blank computer screens
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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  • Last Friday, I cooked dinner, put my phone away, watched a movie. At 9 12 pm my coworker started pinging me that a dashboard looked weird, then tagged my manager, then my director.
    via OrboTek
  • Nobody called the on call. Monday morning I log in to a windy thread of messages accusing me of ignoring the team and "leaving him to drown".
    via OrboTek
  • The dashboard issue turned out to be a bad filter he applied himself, selecting current week while the data pipeline was lagging 2 hours, so it was blank for a bit.
    via OrboTek
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  • No client saw it, no SLA was breached, it was just a scary empty chart on his screen.
    via OrboTek
  • Now he says I made him look stupid because I did not answer, and that teammates should always be reachable within reason.
    via OrboTek
  • I pushed back that 9 to midnight is not within reason, that I pm had communicated boundaries, and that real incidents have a phone number for a reason.
    via OrboTek
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  • A couple coworkers think I could have checked my laptop for one minute. Another coworker said if we reward late pings, they never stop.
    via OrboTek
  • So, AITJ for hard muting after hours and sticking to it even when someone yelled "urgent" in chat, or am I being too rigid about my little rule.
    via OrboTek
  • a man smiles while he looks at his phone at his work desk
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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  • People agreed that she had done the right thing.

    CriticalAsparagus 900 NTA. This guys works different hours and can't expect you to work all the time for his ass.
    via CriticalAsparagus900
  • Ok Veterinarian2715 You handled it perfectly. You informed management and used the systems already in place to triage his calls. I'd keep communication with him in writing as he sounds the kind of person who has a convenient grasp of reality.
    via Ok_Veterinarian2715
  • SheilalnSweden How is it your fault he can't follow simple instructions? He made himself look like an idiot. NTJ
    via SheilaInSweden
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  • TootsNYC "thou shalt not covet thy colleague's personal time" Are you really the only person who could have figured that out? He pinged tons of people. He installed it, he couldn't figure his own self out? Sure, he looked stupid-he deserved to. I'd be a little heated back, honestly. Not unprofessionally, but it's time to apply some pressure here.
    via TootsNYC
  • Penelope 2023 NTJ. I worked at a global company and we had like a 12+ hour difference. One time IT called me at midnight my time. I made an off handed comment when talking in a group and the head of IT found out and ripped the guy a new one to respect time zones.
    via Penelope_2023
  • Direct Surprise2828 The coworker who said you reward late pings and get more of them was spot on! You set a boundary he crossed it and now you're reinforcing it. Good for you.
    via Direct_Surprise2828
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  • RJack151 NTJ. No on-call pay mean no on- call work.
    via RJack151
  • mayhembang I am with a coworker who said "if we reward late pings, they never stop." Your teammate is straight out in the wrong and not to mention an AH to think it is ok to bother people outside of their work hrs for anything let alone silly issues. He may be productive and think that quick questions keep momentum but he needs to manage that by considering how other people work. He is of the opinion that the sun revolves around him. It is good that it made him look silly and for the coworkers w
    via mayhembang
  • Fallout4Addict NTJ its time to comply all the relevant information regarding this idiots behaviour and sending it to his boss asking that they deal with him as his outside of hours messages are becoming ridiculous and use this last situation as a great example of if he was doing his job properly he would have followed protocol and called the direct line. He wont stop because you ask but he will when he's pulled in and has to explain himself to his own boss.
    via Fallout4Addict
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  • Alien-lifeform666 >Another coworker said if we reward late pings, they never stop. This colleague is wise. >A couple coworkers think I could have checked my laptop for one minute. These colleagues are stupid. You could have checked for one minute but what if that minute had been before the needy colleague pinged you? For their idea to work you'd need to repeatedly check for a minute. You are NTJ. You did everything right. There was a channel for communication in case of emergencies. The rest is
    via Alien-lifeform666

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